US investigators launched dawn raids Tuesday on dozens of Los Angeles locations suspected of offering "maternity tourism" services for mostly Chinese mothers wanting to give birth in the United States. The raids targeted apartment complexes in the Irvine, Rancho Cucamonga, Rowland Heights and Walnut districts outside LA where the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says foreign clients are housed. Kice said the raids, in three dozen locations overall, aimed to gather "further evidence related to a variety of possible criminal violations, including visa and tax fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy." According to ICE, the maternity tourism businesses cater mostly to Chinese women who pay $15,000-$50,000 for the services, which can include getting social security numbers and US passports for their offspring. Kice added that investigators alleged that "the operators of the maternity tourism businesses coached clients to misrepresent the purpose of their visit in order to obtain tourist visas to enter the US." "Business operators also instructed clients to wear loose clothing on their inbound flights and not carry baby paraphernalia in their luggage to avoid arousing suspicion when being inspected" by US customs officers.

By Arshad Mohammed MONTREUX, Switzerland (Reuters) - Iran rejected on Tuesday as "unacceptable" U.S. President Barack Obama's demand that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years but said it would continue talks on a deal, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported. Iran laid out the position as the U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers met for a second day of negotiations and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a stinging critique of the agreement they are trying to hammer out. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met a day after Obama told Reuters that Iran must commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear work for a landmark atomic deal to be reached. "Iran will not accept excessive and illogical demands," Zarif was quoted by Fars as saying.